But just a few hundred metres away, hundreds of Aborigines protested against new indigenous policies to send police backed by troops into remote Outback communities in the Northern Territories.

In parliament, an elder of the Ngambri tribe, traditional owners of the land on which the legislature stands, led a traditional 'welcome to country' ceremony in which Rudd was handed a symbolic 'message stick.' It was the first time in Australian history that the ceremony had been held in parliament.

Draped in a possum-fur cape, Matilda House-Williams told the gathered dignitaries 'the message stick is a means of communication used by our people for thousands of years, that tells the story of our coming together.' She noted that when the old parliament building was formally opened in Canberra 80 years ago a lone, barefoot Aboriginal man was driven away by police.

'I stand here before you in this same great institution of ceremonial dress, barefoot, honoured and welcome,' she said.

'A welcome to country acknowledges our people and pays respect to our ancestors' spirits who've created the lands.'

The ceremony came a day before Mr Rudd will apologise on behalf of the Australian parliament to the 'Stolen Generations' of Aborigines forcibly taken from their families under government policies that continued until the 1970s.

Protesters at the rally said the apology was long overdue, criticising former prime minister John Howard for refusing to say sorry during more than 11 years in power before his conservative government was ousted last November.

'This should have happened many, many years ago,' Margaret Wirrapanda said as she prepared to march with her nine-year-old granddaughter. 'It looks like Mr Rudd is trying to clear up the mess Howard left.'

About 1,000 Aborigines from around Australia marched against Mr Howard's controversial decision last year to send police backed by troops into remote communities in the Northern Territory in a bid to halt spiralling social problems.

As smoke from campfires drifted across the rally's starting point, just down the hill from parliament house, most protesters were positive about plans for an apology.

Traditional dancers in loincloths and ochre body-paint mixed with marchers draped in the distinctive Aboriginal flag of a yellow sun on red and black background as the march began.

'It's a pretty happy feeling right now, because people feel that the apology will be an important part of the healing process,' Aboriginal social worker Will Smith said.

Mr Rudd told parliament that the government was 'honouring the traditional owners of land on which this parliament sits and the traditional owners of all the land across the continent.'

The history of the land stretched back thousands of years and thousands of generations of Aborigines had lived here before the arrival of the first white settlers 220 years ago, he said.

'Today we begin with one small step to set right the wrongs of the past.'

The policy that led to the 'Stolen Generations' involved mainly mixed-race Aboriginal children being removed from their families in a bid to force them to assimilate into mainstream white society.

It saw tens of thousands of children placed in institutions or brought up by white families between 1910 and 1970.

Ms Wirrapanda said the Northern Territory policies, which so far have been supported by Mr Rudd, were as destructive as those that led to past injustices because they gave indigenous people no say in their own futures.

'This is like a return to the old times and it's degrading to all Australians, not just Aborigines,' she said. -- AFP